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Giving Thanks for Sweet Potato Beers

Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to honor the simple sweet potato.

A harvest season staple that is versatile enough to be used in sugary desserts or savory side dishes, the sweet potato also makes a fine adjunct for adventurous brewers. While pumpkin beers get all the headlines, these sweet potato beers are quickly accumulating fans during the cooler months of fall.

Funky Buddha Brewery is the undisputed master of crafting beers that taste like food. From Maple Bacon Coffee Porter to Lemon Meringue Pie and French Toast, its magic recipes produce beers that convey the subtlest intricacies of the original dish. Sweet Potato Casserole is no different. A tasty recreation of the southern staple, this beer has the sweet potato roast, heavy spices and yes, even marshmallow flavors you’d expect.

Autumn Maple is brewed with fifteen pounds of yams per barrel in this pumpkin pie alternative beer. While yams and sweet potatoes aren’t technically the same thing (sweet potatoes are members of the morning glory family, yams are related to lilies), the flavors are close enough to include this beer in the list. And what a beer it is. Pouring a gorgeous deep red, the strong spicing of cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg is capped by a gently warming 10 percent alcohol by volume.

As the oldest brewery in Mississippi, Lazy Magnolia has been an active part of the craft beer renaissance, guiding its home state to more progressive alcohol legislation. Jefferson Stout was created in the dark days of Mississippi brewing, when there was a 5 percent ABV limit. But don’t let the low alcohol content keep you away from this beer, which is a milk stout big on coffee, caramel and chocolate flavors highlighted by a full mouthfeel.

Along with brews like Carver by Fullsteam and Taterlicious by Savannah, GA brewpub Moon River Brewing Co., sweet potatoes (and yams) have proven to be a delicious alternative to the now standard fall pumpkin beer, and have earned a place at the Thanksgiving table.